


Light of the Woods

by SasuNarufan13



Category: Naruto
Genre: Doesn't follow epilogue, Domestic Bliss, Established slash, Hint of Angst, M/M, Sasuke's POV, set somewhere in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24027562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasuNarufan13/pseuds/SasuNarufan13
Summary: They can sneer and glare all they want, Sasuke doesn't care.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 48
Kudos: 375





	Light of the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: As a personal birthday present to myself, I figured I would finally finish an idea that's been lurking on my USB stick for a couple of years now (like so many others *coughs*) It's nothing terribly complicated, even rather random, but have it regardless LOL
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this random ficlet!

**Light of the Woods**

"Aside from that, any news about your search?" Kakashi inquired, studying the scroll with a frown. His entire desk was covered with paperwork, practically hiding the dark wood from view. Next to the desk was another towering pile of thick files.

"Nothing of significance," Sasuke replied, shaking his head. "All the leads I got from that group turned out to be dead ones. If there had been any information there, it disappeared a long time ago."

"That was to be expected, I guess," Kakashi sighed, dropping the scroll on the desk to rub his temples. "It would have been too easy otherwise."

Sasuke inclined his head, silently agreeing with the older man. While finally finding some vital or at the very least interesting information would be great, he doubted it would happen any time soon. That would be far too simple and almost nothing in his life had been simple so far.

"You have anything else to add?" Kakashi regarded him curiously, shoving the scroll further to the side.

The dark haired man shook his head. "No, nothing else."

"I suppose you're dismissed then. Unless you're in the mood to help me with this paperwork?" he added hopefully.

Sasuke sneered and turned around. "I don't think the Council wants all their important paperwork to be tainted by an Uchiha. You never know, one detail in them might cause me to snap and kill all of you," he said mockingly.

"Sasuke …" Kakashi sighed wearily, but the younger man slipped out of the office before he could offer meaningless platitudes again.

He ignored the stares of the masked guards, which followed him all the way through the corridor. The shinobi he passed on his way down either flat out turned their heads away from him or they threw him a filthy look, scurrying away when he returned their foul looks with a flat one of his own.

It was softly raining when he stepped out of the building and he peeked at the dark grey sky. Not bothering with putting on his hood, he started making his way down the street, keeping his gaze fixated in front of him.

It started as soon as they took notice of him. The stares, the whispers, the muttering behind cupped hands. The glares, the foul looks, the sneering faces before they abruptly turned away. The way they created a wide berth around him, going as far as crossing the street in order not to walk past him.

"I still can't believe he's allowed to walk around free. After everything he's done, you'd think he wouldn't see the light of day for years to come!"

"Yeah, well, it obviously helps when the Hokage is your former sensei, doesn't it?"

"Filthy murderer."

"No, don't go near him, honey; he's dangerous."

"To think Uzumaki left the village for him … I never thought I'd see the day he would be corrupted by the likes of Uchiha."

"You think there's any chance of Uzumaki coming back?"

"Not as long as _he_ is around. If he had even a shred of decency left, he would leave Uzumaki alone and let him return to us."

On and on it went. Poisonous remarks about how he should never have returned to Konoha, how the Hokage should have let him rot in jail. People sneering that they had always known the Uchiha family wasn't right. Mothers admonishing their children for straying too close to him, shinobi staring at him with narrowed eyes, tracking his every move.

It went like this every time he was in the village. No matter how much time had passed since the end of the war, the villagers' animosity towards him never lessened. They thought he'd got off too lightly after his betrayal, were convinced he should have spent the rest of his life in prison to atone for his sins.

They blamed him for Naruto leaving Konoha, as if he controlled the blond man, as if he was capable of ordering the Jinchuuriki around. Naruto had left out of his own free will, but they didn't see it that way.

They had seen him leaving with Sasuke and had assumed the worst. It couldn't be because Naruto wanted to be with him, he couldn't have left with him because he'd chosen for Sasuke and not the village.

Of course not. Because an Uchiha was incapable of loving someone and impossible to be loved. Uchiha were worse monsters than the Bijuu themselves if one had to go by the furious whispers.

It probably should bother him, the hatred he could practically feel blasting off the older people whenever he set foot inside the village. The distrust and the suspicion in their eyes whenever they looked at him should perhaps discourage him, reaffirm the belief that he was better off dead.

He didn't care.

He had never cared about what other people had thought of him, had never paid attention to the other villagers. He hadn't as a child and he hadn't started to care now that he was an adult. As long as they left him alone, they could whisper and sneer as much as they wanted to. If that made them feel better about themselves, so be it.

He only cared about a couple of people and none of them lived inside the village.

* * *

The cottage was built deep into the woods, closer to the border with Suna than with Konoha. It had been a conscious choice, him not in the mood to be any closer to the place that had cost him his entire family than he had to be. He would have relocated entirely elsewhere even, perhaps settle down in Suna or even further, like the Mist country, if not for one person.

The light drizzle had turned into a heavier bout of rain by the time he reached the small path which led right up to the cottage. The small house was surrounded by large, towering trees, of which the leaf roofs tangled together to form one large shield above the cottage. A row of rose bushes had been planted in front of the cottage, intersected with tulips and their bright colours stood out sharply against the washed out surroundings.

A black cat swooped down from one of the trees to greet him with a bright, sharp meow, sauntering over towards him, appearing completely unbothered by the pouring rain.

Sasuke bent down, sweeping his hand across the wet fur. The lithe body started vibrating with the cat's heavy purr as he rubbed his little head against Sasuke's leg.

"Hello there, had enough of walking around?" Sasuke murmured and the cat chirped in response, staring up at him with gleaming golden eyes.

Quirking a light smile, Sasuke gestured for the cat to follow him and the little animal did, trotting easily next to him as Sasuke made his way to the door.

The cat slipped inside as soon as the front door opened, greeting a fluffy, white cat with a nose kiss. The white cat twitched her little nose when the black cat shook out his fur, but easily followed the black cat upstairs, where they would most likely start their late afternoon grooming session.

The dripping cloak was hung up on the wall and the shoes discarded next to the door. On bare feet, Sasuke meandered into the living room; his footsteps barely leaving noise behind.

What he saw there made him pause and unbiddenly a smile graced his lips; his sour mood automatically lifting at the sight which greeted him.

Naruto was standing bent over, dressed in a simple white short and a dark orange shirt. He was holding the little hands of a black haired baby boy, who stood on wobbly chubby legs in front of him. The baby lifted one foot cautiously, looking down at it in suspicion, before lowering it again, grinning when that made Naruto coo encouragingly.

"See, I know you can do it, Menma! You're doing so well!" Naruto encouraged him to take another step, slowly stepping backwards so that the ten month old baby would follow him.

Menma hesitated before taking two wobbly steps forwards; his small face scrunched up in concentration. When he completed the second step, Sasuke clapped his hand against his thigh, making the other two look at him.

"Hey, look who's back, Menma? Papa's back!" Naruto grinned and picked up the little boy, settling him on his hips before he crossed the room and kissed Sasuke full on his mouth.

"Da, da, da!" Menma fussed, smacking his fists against Sasuke's chest until the older man kissed his forehead. Then the little boy blinked in wonder before grinning and snuggling up against his daddy.

"I'm home," Sasuke said, slipping his remaining arm around Naruto's waist.

"Welcome back." The corners of blue eyes wrinkled with Naruto's blinding grin. "How did it go? Nobody gave you any trouble, did they?" The light in those bright blue eyes dimmed.

Sasuke thought about the dark whispers and the foul looks, about how one of the ANBU guards had followed him all the way until the gates of Konoha, as if making sure he wouldn't suddenly start torching the place down.

He looked at Naruto and at their sweet baby boy, their little miracle who had graced their lives ten months ago. He looked at the little family he had created, a family he wouldn't lose, _not this one, not this time_ , and smiled, pulling the blond man close to kiss his mouth.

"It went fine. I'm just glad to be home again."

"And we're happy to have you back," Naruto hummed; the light in his eyes brightening once more as he eagerly kissed Sasuke back.

No, Sasuke didn't care one wit about what the village thought of him. He cared about two people only and both of them were currently pressed against him and that was more than enough.

His little family. His personal light. They were his and he was theirs; it was as simple as that.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> AN2: Like I said, it's rather random, but sometimes my mind is just a very random place *shrugs* 
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


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